The Ottawa Senators hosted the Utah Mammoth on Sunday night in the first of two games between the two organizations this season. Both teams found themselves in the back half of back-to-back games, but the Senators were in a better situation, coming away with a gritty 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. The Mammoth lost 6-2 to the surging Montreal Canadiens and 5-3 to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the final game of their four-game road trip on Wednesday night.
In the end, the Senators came out on top. beating the Mammoth 4-2relying on their team-first approach and strong goaltending.
Summary of the game
The Mammoth started strong, contesting Leevi Merilainen for 14 shots, while the Senators managed just five shots on Vitek Vanecek in the first period. However, after twenty minutes the score was 1-1. Ottawa opened the scoring with one scrambling goal in front of Utah’s net. Fabian Zetterlund started the match with a powerful shot at the net, which Dmitri Simashev blocked, but Dylan Cozens picked up the loose puck and tried to turn it into the net. Vanecek scrambled and released the puck for the taking, and Ridly Greig was in the perfect spot to put it over the line.
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As the period drew to a close, Clayton Keller drove towards the net and managed to reach the other side, catching Nick Jensen flat-footed. Merilainen made the primary save, but Keller outpaced the Senators’ rookie netminder and grabbed his own rebound to score Utah’s first goal.
In the second period, the Senators bounced back and took control of the puck. While they didn’t quite lead Utah in shots, with nine tied shots apiece, they scored twice and were much more spirited and involved. Jordan Spence, who has been a regular healthy scratch for Ottawa, scored his first goal as a senator, firing off a big shot with the hashmarks that cleanly defeated Vanecek.
Shortly after, head coach Travis Green moved up Spence to play with Thomas Chabot on the second pairing, bumping Jensen to the third period with Tyler Kleven. Seven minutes later, Cozens passed the puck to Nick Cousins behind the net, who scored during the wrap-around to give Ottawa a 3–1 lead.
However, Nick Schmaltz spoiled the Senators’ revival with a strong move from Merilainen. The goal was very similar to Keller’s earlier, but this time it was rising all-star Jake Sanderson who couldn’t stop the play. The goal marked Schmaltz’s seventh goal against the Senators in 14 career matchups. It also highlighted the problems the Senators had in controlling the Mammoth’s speed. Merilainen’s great play put the Senators out of contention several times during the first 40 minutes to keep them ahead.
The Senators’ lead nearly disappeared early in the third, when Jack McBain put the puck in the net to tie the game. However, Merilainen did not like it and immediately gave the signal ‘no goal’ to the referee. Green agreed and challenged a coach, leading to a reversal of the call, although it was ruled incidental contact rather than goaltender interference. Three minutes later, Michael Amadio scored his fourth goal in four games, knocking down Chabot’s point shot that dribbled between Vanecek’s legs.
After the Senators’ fourth goal, the game was all Ottawa’s. Utah tried to get some momentum going by pulling Vanecek with two minutes left, but the Senators refused to give them anything. The Senators finished their two-game weekend with four points, showing great teamwork and solid goaltending, while the Mammoth continue to search for their first goal as their goalie is drawn into franchise history.
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